Journal

2021 - Week 24 Cooking Results

Brats

Lamb ones again, good things.

Charred Red Pepper and White Bean Salad

The only cooking, really, was in the pan. The rest of this came off with a certain amount of ease. The prosciutto and pecorino added quite a bit salty and savoriness to the whole dish. It was quite nice.

Turkey burgers with smoked Gouda

I added a bit of the Momofuku spicy salt to the turkey, though. I should’ve also added the smoked paprika like I had originally planned, but apparently forgot about. It did combine well with the smoked Gouda. A nice simple meal.

Scallion and Coconut Rice with Pork

This was an interesting way to get a creamy risotto like texture. I don’t think it was risotto-y enough that I my wife took it to work, but I enjoyed it the next day with some soy sauce, which I think really added to it.

Jalapeño Chicken Salad

I vaguely followed the recipe. I really do like pickled jalapeños, they add heat but also acid as well. Easy recipe for a hot day. I was running out of bread, but was able to scrap enough out of the freezer to make these.

2021 - Week 23 Cooking Results

Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce

So I had a delicate balance here. I wasn’t sure where to start, and I wanted to avoid getting the heat to be too much for Shannon. So without guidance, I had to guess. And it really wasn’t as spicy as I wanted (that gentle space on the edge of Shannon’s tolerance. 


Also, Fresh Iowa strawberries and whipped cream.

Lamb Brats

Option presented by Ethan, at Crooked Gap, it has the spices of a brat and the taste of lamb. Quite good.

Charred Red Pepper and White Bean Salad

I assumed this would require me to turn the oven on, and on a particular, perhaps the broiler, so when it was quite hot out, I said, nah. But apparently, it did not. So I guess I’ll try again next week.

Spiced Beef Pitas

So I trimmed this down a bit, Pretty much just did the spiced beef. I served it with naan, instead of pita, cause that’s what I had. We were in a rush, cause, for some reason, we were running late. Combo of me picking up Shannon a bit late, find out out to pick up our CSA share, and Shannon working until 5. We did get Shannon’s car detailed that day, and they did a fantastic job. It’s really to bad we live close to very large trees that drop pollen all the time.

Slow-Cooker Citrus-Braised Chicken Tacos

I started getting things ready after running downtown to pick up from Blue Gate, stopping at Daisy Chain Coffee to get a bit of a pick me up. It was pretty easy to prep the parts ready for cooking in the crock pot. I wanted to add a bit of heat, so I added a bit of Momofuku spicy salt, and some chipotle powder. I set it for 5 hours on low, then ran off to the store to get some cream, and sour cream.

I then spent a good chunk of that time working with Shannon to hang some window treatments. some black out curtains for our bedroom and a translucent set for the new windows in the living room. I used my handy drill and followed the directions. I even had Shannon do one because my left hand is dumb. I watched a quick video on hanging stuff on plaster. Things are looking pretty good.

After taking a break, listening to a bit of music, medicating the cats, I got to work finishing off dinner. I cooked off a lot of the liquid, while prepping a lot of the other things, spilled a bit, added a bit of salt.

All and all, a pretty good meal, without a ton of effort.

I did, however, use the last of the Cheese Bar Batch 1 Hot Sauce, which is sad, but now I’ll get to head into batch 2.

Also, Iowa strawberries and whipped cream, cause ‘tis the short season for it.

The story of the speakers

I worked my second or third summer of beta testing children’s educational software. This was the summer that the company was bought out and there were bonuses on the line for a timely completion of the next version. The same summer where they paid a contracting company to pay me (policy form the purchasing company).

After the goal was met, It was, the most money to that point that I had ever had in my possession (outside of the short period of time where school loans showed up and disappeared from my account). So I went out and bought Polk Audio set of speakers. A CS350 center channel, two RT5s as rear speakers, and two RT20s as fronts.

I imagined that I was an audiophile at some point, perhaps going to be very impressed by a friend’s father’s Carver speakers, so I wanted something nicer then average and could show that but not getting into the silly range of audio equipment.

I may not have had the loudest speakers on my floor but I sure had the best sounding. So I had them through college. After college while I lived in Ames, when I moved to Windsor heights and finally where I live now.

At some point one of the speakers in the RT20 blew, I got it fixed, and a couple years later it blew again. And it became something I didn’t care as much about.

So it sat, occasionally a topic on conversation, such as “when are you going to get this fixed” eventually to “when are you going to get rid of these”. I eventually donated the equipment to Goodwill, then the CS350 and the RT5s.

I wanted to find a good home for the RT20s, asked others, and a couple of days before we had agreed that they would go on the curb for whomever, as a final ask they went to a friend that I hadn’t thought to ask. So hopefully they’ll find a new life.

Farewell, first big thing I bought that I really wanted.

2021 - Week 22 Cooking Results

Brats & Burgers

We went to Cheese Bar’s Lua Luau Sunday, and I may have over ate / drank, it was no longer reasonable for me to make one of these, but instead, Shannon picked up something on the way home. Due to the lack of plans on Memorial Day, I made Brats for lunch and burgers for dinner. Good meals.

Gochujang noodle bowl

I ended up doubling this recipe, except the pork. I also skipped the sesame seeds. It was pretty good. Maybe a bit more sauce? I did get through most of my toasted sesame oil, so I can swap to the Momofuku version.

Cumin Scented Chicken

Shannon came home wanting pizza, but I wanted to use the chicken so I tossed this recipe, took the chicken tenderloins tossed them when a bit of salt and savory seasoning and baked them off. We had sandwiches.

Penne with Arrabbiata Sauce

Delayed!

Tuna melts

I had been watching a presentation for most of the day, while people were installing windows in the living room and our main better. Shannon came downstairs to feed the kids after getting home from work, and we were just waiting for them to finish. I wasn’t sure I had bread in the freezer, but I did so I quickly mixed up some tuna salad and got the tuna melts going. Not my best work, as the tuna salad was a bit more liquid then it should be.

2021 - Week 21 Cooking Results

This was a particularly unproductive week, as far as cooking goes.

Brats

Good things.

Pasta

Italian sausage, penne rigate, tomatoes, tomato sauce, herbs and spices. Good things.

Gochujang noodle bowl

Delayed!

Cumin Scented Chicken

Delayed!

Breakfast Burrito With Scrambled Egg, Chorizo, and Refried Beans Recipe

Pretty easy to put together and I used the leftover beans to have burritos a number of the days then I transitioned into wraps (Cheese and turkeys). Good quick meal overall.